Carols & Classics

Lilly designed this promo material.  It advertises our church family's first ever Community Concert.
The church will be decorated beautifully - greeters will warmly welcome you in the name of Jesus as we join to celebrate the most incredibly loving event in human history - Emmanuel, God with us!

An hour and 15 of the most beautiful soul-enriching music; beloved carols blended with sublime excerpts of Handel's Christmas Messiah and scripture narrative sung by a 70 voice choir - adults & children; all accompanied by an amazing professional orchestra.

December 15, 16 and 17 from 7:30pm in my church.  

Search Carols & Classics on Facebook for more details.

Baby Kae

This little guy is a heart-throb

Dare I say it?  I absolutely adore him.

He reminds me more and more of his daddy now -- not in appearance as much as manner.

 But did this delightful Déjà vu compel ME to go to the lengths that 

one of his daddy's co-workers did?

 .... Scouring one textile store after another in search of fishing pictures
to adorn a personalized baby quilt??  Did I say that the co-worker was male?

 ....or that it was a mission lovingly & joyfully embraced with and by his girlfriend
whom we don't even really know??

The gift is a sort of precious humbling thing that brings tears to the eye.

Hardworking Sloths: Disguising Spiritual Laziness | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

A Hardworking Sloth?

Yeah, I know it sounds like a contradiction.

This is an excellent article written by Carolyn Arends. She is one of my favourite singer/songwriters. She's Canadian. She's insightful, inspirational and a fellow pilgrim -- someone who lays out profound thoughts with the simplest turn of a phrase.
*sigh*

She completely nailed me to the floorboards with this one....

Hardworking Sloths: Disguising Spiritual Laziness | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

Blessings

I've posted this once already.
But I think we all need a reminder.
It's essential to remember this, that difficulties of every sort are precisely what God uses to draw us near.
Away from our small mindedness, our hand-wringing short sightedness to Grand Canyon type perspective.
On the one hand, I weary of needing constant reminders of the FACT that God is 100% in control.
On the other hand, a daily reminder packaged in a song as beautiful as this one isn't so hard to take.
Listen and Live well.
For His Glory.
Blessings by Laura Story

Carols & Classics

In August just past (it did just pass didn't it??) I took action with a positively ancient pledge to organize the music in our music room.   By 'ancient pledge' I mean: a good intention verbally expressed far too often and lain dormant for about five years, give or take a few.
I have more music than could ever be useful to me.   I stare at shelves, boxes, binders, cupboards & corners FULL to be more precise and yet I can throw none of it away.  I tried.
I just can't bring myself to do it.
The very idea is akin to discarding that collection of RSV bibles shelved unreachably in the home library.
Classified unthinkable in terms of squeamishiness.
But I digress so conveniently.
I sort of stumbled across a copy of Carols & Classics which I opened at the keyboard and to which I lost the remainder of that afternoon.  Here's the online product description:
A rich treasury of choral works and Scripture for concert, pageant and service; suitable for choir and/or congregational singing, individual medleys during the season of Advent and Christmas, and in the retelling of the Christmas story. Blending the most cherished Christmas classics with beloved carols in powerful and unique combinations by Tom Fettke; ideal for medium sized choirs. 96 pages.


96 pages of sheer musical beauty.  I was captivated entirely.


I blush considerably a bit to admit this.
Compelled in ways convicting but difficult to explain, my reality is such that I am now immersed (almost exclusively) in a new Community Concert project for December and thus.....
still staring at shelves, boxes, binders, cupboards and corners of music waiting to be organized.

A girl's gotta do what she's compelled to do.

That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
Details to follow, stay tuned.

As per typical,

behind by almost a full season...

Songs & Stories Tour USA

We're in Valparaiso, Indiana -  "investing" in our marriage and other loves like golf, music, used bookstores, coffee shops, Amarone - the list goes on and on.  There are just so many good things about this life isn't there?
We are drawn to this place in particular, 8 hours from home, to attend a concert at the Valparaiso Nazarene Church, one of the stops in a ten week Songs & Stories tour through the USA by Steven Curtis Chapman along with Josh Wilson and Andrew Peterson.
*sigh*
It was SOOOooo good.  Man!  Was it GOOD.
But I have to go to sleep first before I launch headlong into a recap.  I have to golf tomorrow with my hubby and I want to beat him.  On the scorecard that is.  That's what I meant of course.
Here's a few snapshots we managed to snag tonight...

 Andrew Peterson of Counting the Stars fame.   He was OUR drawing card for sure!

 This dude below with the cool hat played so many different instruments, he boggled the senses with his multi-talent.  His cello playing alone was enough to render one weeping - it was 'plugged' and the sound of it resonated so deep I felt it rumbling in my chest.  (We were in row 4:)

This Synthesizer man (pictured below) is Ben Shive, trusty sidekick to Andrew Peterson - shows up on all his albums including a soon to be released kids album called Slugs & Bugs Vol. 3  So much fun to watch in action.  That little blue thing at his elbow is a teeny miked xylophone (like a Fisher Price toy!) that peeled out sound like church bells. 

A long shot down the centre aisle of tonights venue.

These pic's tell a certain story about Daddy's Cinderella - perhaps I'll share that story tomorrow when I'm feeling a little less raw. There's a version of this song on Youtube as well.  I'll post that tomorrow too.  Tomorrow.  What am I saying?  It IS tomorrow already and I have a score to settle on some nearby fairways that require a good nights sleep!  *sigh*  

.....zzzz... shhh.... more tomorrow...